What’s in It for Me? The Church Members and the Bus … to help and be a blessing. With that in mind, let me give you some things you can do to be a blessing to the bus ministry

What’s in It for Me? The Church Members and the Bus Ministry

THE PASTOR has decided to take your church into the busministry or perhaps to expand upon one already in exis-

tence. You are a faithful and loyal member, and you want toknow what you can do and what advantages it will bring to youand your church. Many people are excited about the new min-istry, and others may be a bit reluctant or wary of it. You cannothelp but wonder how this is going to affect you and your family.You have questions, but you do not want to appear negative byasking them.

In writing this book I felt there needed to be a chapter forgood people who are members of churches getting into the busministry. Some of your concerns and questions are legitimate andought to be addressed. Having been a pastor of a church with avibrant bus ministry for more than twenty years helps me tounderstand your concerns and questions.

Let me begin by saying that you should not get involved inthe bus ministry unless you believe God wants you to do so. It isnot for everybody; and even if it is for you, perhaps now is notthe time you should do it. Don’t feel guilty and don’t makeexcuses. If God is not in it and you are serving elsewhere, then beat peace about it. Don’t feel pressured to join unless God is clearlyleading you to do so. Otherwise, you will end up doing more harmto your spirit than good, and that will eventually affect others.

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That said, there are three questions members often ask aboutthe bus ministry.

1. What may I expect?

2. What are the benefits?

3. What can I do?

Hopefully these answers will help put your mind at ease andallow you to be one hundred percent supportive of the directionyour church is taking.

What may I expect? There will be some noticeable changesthat will take place when your church gets involved in a bus min-istry. Here are a few.

◆ There will be more kids around; and with more kids,there will be more noise and messes. Kids are kids. They arefull of energy and not always as courteous as they ought to be.

◆ There will be more buzz. With more kids come moreenergy and excitement. The hallways may get a little louderand a little more congested.

◆ There will be more people occupying the same space.This may sound silly, but let’s face it: as hard as we may try tokeep them out of your way, there may be a longer line in therestrooms or more congestion in the hallways.

◆ There will be more baptisms. I say this to prepare youthat you may be a bit longer in the invitation and during thebaptismal service, as many of these children will be acceptingChrist as Saviour and getting baptized.

◆ There may be a bit more inconvenience leaving church.The buses may cause a need for detours in the route you nor-mally take.

◆ There may be some misbehavior. Well, I didn’t want tosay it, but it is true. More kids mean more behavioral prob-lems. Keep reminding yourself of when you were a kid.

◆ There will be financial responsibility. This will have aneffect on your church budget. Buses cost money to operate;therefore, accept the fact that some of your tithes and offeringswill be used for this new ministry.

Church Growth Through the Bus Ministry18

◆ There will be some adjustments for everybody. The bestleader learns as he goes. The pastor will anticipate what is bestonly to discover that his plans did not work; then changes willhave to be made. Please be patient as things get started.

What are the benefits? Did I discourage you? Well, let metell you about the benefits of the bus ministry, and hopefully itwill help you realize that it is well worth all the challenges asso-ciated with it.

◆ Precious souls will be saved. Many will be children.Think of it. You will be reaching them before they have gottenold and cold to the Gospel.

◆ Lives will be transformed. Children will ride your busand grow to be fine Christians because your church cared toreach them and teach them.

◆ There will be more energy. I mentioned that in answer-ing the first question, and I mention it again becauseexcitement is a good thing. Imagine the enjoyment of watchingthese kids having fun going to church and Sunday school. Itsurely beats what the world has to offer.

◆ God will bless your church for obeying the GreatCommission. Your church will be doing more of what thechurch was commanded to do by our Lord.

◆ You will be helping the poor and the disadvantaged. Weall love charitable work. The church is the greatest place thereis for charitable work. We are meeting both the physical andspiritual needs of the bus riders.

◆ Families will be reached. One day you will see a familybecoming active in the church, and you may wonder fromwhere they came, only to discover that they were reachedthrough the bus ministry.

◆ More people will have a place to serve the Lord. This canonly help strengthen the church when more members aredoing the work of the Lord.

What can I do? It is my experience that most Christianswant to help and be a blessing. With that in mind, let me giveyou some things you can do to be a blessing to the bus ministry.

19What’s in It for Me? The Church Members and the Bus Ministry

◆ Pray! Prayer will not only bring the blessings of God tothe ministry, but it will also give you a more tender heart tothe bus ministry.

◆ Have a good attitude. If someone starts to say somethingnegative, deflect it with something positive. Never allow any-one to point out the problems without your pointing out theblessings. Be totally supportive.

◆ Be kind to these new attendees. Smile at them and makethem feel welcome. Treat the dirtiest child as kindly as youwould the most sophisticated adult.

◆ Give joyfully. When you tithe, a portion of that tithewill be used to pay the costs of operating buses. Designateweekly or monthly an extra amount to the bus ministry. Givein the special bus offerings.

◆ Encourage the bus workers. Let them know you appre-ciate their ministry and that you are praying for them.

◆ Overlook the inconveniences “as unto the Lord.” Thinkof the inconveniences so many have made throughout historyand are making even today to get out the Gospel to the world.Enjoy those inconveniences as a way you can do your part forthe sake of souls.

◆ Volunteer to help occasionally. There will be big dayswhen your church will need a few extra workers. Lend a hand.The blessings you will receive will be well worth the effort.

◆ Love these children. Look at them through eyes of com-passion, understanding that for many of them your church willbe the only hope they have. Some come from unloving andsin-infested home lives. Show them the love of Christ.

You may never drive or ride a church bus. You may never goout on bus visitation. You may not ever feel led to be involved inthe bus ministry in any way. That does not mean that there willno rewards for you in Heaven. Only by the combined cooperationand efforts of the church family can a ministry such as this betotally effective and successful. You are an important part of thisand every other ministry of your church. Remember this mar-


velous passage of Scripture as your church moves forward, andtake it deeply to heart.

“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all themembers of that one body, being many, are one body: so also isChrist.”—I Cor. 12:12.

“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the mem-bers should have the same care one for another.”—I Cor. 12:25.

21What’s in It for Me? The Church Members and the Bus Ministry

5Leading Your Church to Support the Bus Ministry

YOu KNOW it is the right thing to do. God has spoken toyour heart and given you the vision to start reaching out

more in your area with the Gospel. You have thought about it,prayed about it, and even sought counsel about it; and now youare ready to start. How do you help your church members tocatch the same vision you have for starting a bus ministry in yourchurch?

Perhaps you have had a bus ministry for some time, but it hasbeen stagnant for a long time with no real emphasis on it. Thepeople never even think about it, but you have come to realizethat it is time to take it to the next level. What can you do torevive the spirit for the bus ministry in your church?

Good men often approach me to ask questions such as these.They sincerely want to make the bus ministry a vibrant part oftheir churches, but they are not certain how to get the peopleinvolved and behind their decision. Let me share with you howto lead your church to the place where the bus ministry is one ofthe exciting ministries of your church and one that almost every-one will support.

1. Present the Need. What is the need? That is where it allbegins. You must be sure you understand what the need is.

◆ The need is to reach the next generation with the Gospel.

◆ The need is to reach and influence your area withGod’s Word.

◆ The need is to win more souls to Christ.

◆ The need is to obey Christ’s commands to preach theGospel to every creature.

◆ The need is to go into the highways and hedges andbring them in.

A pastor must make certain that he knows the need andshares the need with his people. Preach the need. Bring the needbefore your people in your sermons. This will set the stage forannouncing your decision. Don’t just announce you are going to doit and expect them to do it because you happen to have a burden.

2. Present the Possibilities. The good that comes from theministry far outweighs the challenges but sometimes is not asobvious. Let your people know of the blessings of having a busministry. Borrow stories from churches like ours who have beenin the bus ministry and let your people know the great blessingsin store by having a bus ministry.

3. Present the Potential. The potential is souls being saved.That is the bottom line of any ministry. Show your people thefact that more souls will be saved through the bus ministrythan by any other means. Dollars invested in the bus ministrynet greater spiritual returns than those invested almost any-where else. Get your people’s mission-mindedness to extendto more than the foreign fields. Help them to realize thatthere are unharvested fields near your church. There areneighborhoods where no one is preaching the true Gospel.They may have the social gospel or the prosperity gospel, butmany have no true soul-winning ministry anywhere near them.Your church can see many saved by going into those fields.

4. Present the Opportunity to Give. The Bible tells us thatour hearts follow our treasures. Once the people have the burden,take special offerings for the new bus routes you are starting.Once people give to something, it becomes theirs. They take own-ership of it. Let them have the honor of giving, and they will beon board.


5. Present the Opportunity to Serve. Pastor, sometimes wemake the mistake of thinking people want to come to church toobserve and be ministered to. That could not be further from thetruth. People want to serve. They want to be a part of the min-istry of the church. Most churches have plenty of people involvedin ushering or working in the nurseries. We have people whowant to serve in a place where they can exercise their abilities forthe Lord. That is what the bus ministry allows people to do. It isa place for people who really want to do a work for God. Takeadvantage of it by opening up this opportunity to people whoneed a place to serve the Lord.

6. Present the Results. From the beginning, share the bless-ings with the people. Has it ever dawned on us that if our peoplegive, they probably would enjoy knowing about the eternalresults that are taking place? We tell them when the mortgage isretired. We tell them when we make budget or don’t. We tellthem how much we raised for foreign missions or for a schoolcampaign. Tell them the blessings of the bus ministry. Let themknow of the blessings and share in the joy.

7. Present Examples. Conferences are a wonderful method torekindle our spark or in some cases light a new fire. Take a fewof your key folks, laymen as well as staff, to a bus conference andlet them see the passion of those who are active in the ministry.When we as leaders attend, we come back with excitement andexpanded vision and then expect our people to act upon that. Letthem catch the vision by being a part of a good bus conference.It will electrify your church. On the Sunday night after the con-ference, let them share what God did for them. It is one thingwhen the pastor promotes the bus ministry. It is quite anotherwhen a layman does.

8. Present Patiently. No matter how good a job we do shar-ing all of the good there is in having a bus ministry, some willcatch on slowly. Don’t beat them up. Don’t make them feel likesecond-class citizens. Give them time. They will catch on in time.

9. Present It Prayerfully. In everything we seek to do we mustdepend on the Lord to reach the hearts of the people. Bathe thisnew ministry in prayer. Pray! Nothing is more vital than that.

◆ Pray for it privately.

25Leading Your Church to Support the Bus Ministry

◆ Pray for it with your staff.

◆ Pray for it with your leadership.

◆ Pray for it publicly.

Pastor, you will love the blessings that will come to yourchurch. Do what you must do to help your people get the heartfor this great ministry. You will be glad you did, and in eternityyou will know you did the right thing.


When Should You Starta Bus Ministry?

THE BuS ministry is one of the greatest soul-winning toolsavailable for reaching children and teenagers in your area.

I love the bus ministry and have been a part of it for over thirtyyears. People often ask me when a church should start a bus min-istry. I believe there are some basic principles to follow to helpyou know when and how to get a bus ministry started. There arethree things to consider before starting a bus ministry. They are:

Finances (money)

Facilities (buildings or room)

Faculty (workers)

Some leaders teach that a church should have an attendanceof at least a hundred or even a couple of hundred before startinga bus ministry. Some recommend that a church should maintaina ratio of seventy percent drive-in crowd and thirty percent buscrowd, or perhaps sixty/forty. Others recommend that it is bestto wait two or three years after starting your church or becomingthe pastor of a church to start running bus routes.

All of these may be good recommendations, but they still mayfall short in fully guiding you as to the best time to begin. Ibelieve there are some basic principles that can help you knowwhen and how to get a bus ministry started in your church.

First, we know that the Great Commission is a threefold com-mandment. We are to

6

◆ win people to Christ;

◆ baptize our converts;

◆ teach them to observe or follow the instructions ofthe Bible.

These are all accomplished by personal soul winning, bringingour converts to church, and teaching them in Sunday school andchurch services.

Obeying the Great Commission is the main emphasis and thevery purpose of our churches. The heartbeat of God is to reachthe lost with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to reacheveryone we can with the message of salvation; and that includeschildren, teenagers and adults of all ages. Winning souls shouldbe our passion, our burning desire, our heartbeat. People shouldbe getting saved and baptized each week. The bus ministry is agreat tool to accomplish that. It is the difference between fishingwith one pole and casting a net over a multitude of fish.

I remember growing up in the mountains of southeasternKentucky. I went down by the river and cut down cane for fishingpoles. We laid those long poles on top of an outside building sothat they could dry. Then I would wrap the fishing line aroundthe end of one and tie on a hook and sinker. I would go searchingfor some big, fat, red worms to use for bait. Then I went fishing!I loved catching fish with those cane poles. In fact, I would baitup several of those poles and cast the line. Then I would stick theends of the poles in the dirt on the riverbank so that I could haveseveral lines and hooks in the water at the same time.

A few years later I bought a few rods and reels, and my fishingwent to a whole new level. Eventually, I purchased a fishing boatso that my family and I could enjoy going further out where morefish (especially Crappie) were just waiting to be caught. Wecaught a lot of fish in that boat.

Now think of this. If all I had was a cane pole with which tofish, then that is what I used. I wanted to catch fish so I usedwhat I had. When I could afford two poles, I used two poles.When I could afford a boat and a net, then I used them. If I couldafford dynamite, then…(just kidding!). The point is, I used asmuch as I could to catch as many fish as I could.


When I became a pastor, at times I was the only one whowent soul winning. As I won others to Christ, I was to take themsoul winning with me and train them to win souls. Eventually wehad enough people in church who were giving and winning soulsthat we were able to buy a bus to begin reaching children forChrist by “the bunches.” As the church grew, even more andmore people were giving and winning souls; we were able to buymore buses plus had more workers to work those buses.

Today we continue to grow and add bus routes. As of thiswriting we have twenty-four bus routes reaching and winningyoung people for Christ. Our primary purpose as a church is towin more people to Christ, see more of them baptized, and thento teach them the Word of God. Make no mistake about it: wedid not start bus routes to build a church, but we built bus routesas the church grew.

If you follow this pattern, you will build a balanced churchand be able to build more routes to reach more people. There aresome important things to consider as you start a bus ministry:training workers, purchasing a bus, having the right kind of insur-ance, fuel for the buses, maintenance and other things. Theseand others will be covered throughout this book, but for now Iwant to encourage you to make it a goal to have a bus ministry—or to expand the one you have—so that you can reach more soulsfor Christ.

29When Should You Start a Bus Ministry?

Short-Term Challenges VersusLong-Term Results

A S BuS ministries begin to grow, so do the challenges thataccompany them. Sadly, some men see the challenges;

and rather than addressing them with solutions, they abandon thebus ministry entirely. In doing so they miss out on bountiful bless-ings they could enjoy. That is like a couple’s giving up on havingchildren merely because of the challenges that they bring. I wouldhate to have missed out on the great joys of having kids merelybecause they created challenges to my wife and me.

Likewise, I would hate to think of the blessings we would havemissed as a church had we not had a bus ministry. These bless-ings include

◆ souls saved by the hundreds and thousands,

◆ lives changed,

◆ families reached and now driving to church together,

◆ bus workers who once were bus kids,

◆ workers in almost every ministry reached through ourbus ministry,

◆ bus captains who once were bus riders now reachingchildren,

◆ preacher boys who were reached on the buses,

◆ soul winners who were reached through the bus ministry.

◆ people faithfully attending Sunday and Wednesday

7

nights who first came on buses.

That is merely a sampling of what we would have missed. Byno means, however, should we ignore the challenges, nor do Iplan to pretend they do not exist. As our bus ministry grew, threemain problems accompanied that growth:

1. space issues

2. behavior problems

3. too many children to handle in a single service

Let me deal with these by telling you what we did at ClaysMill Road Baptist Church. These problems were dealt with inone basic method. We divided up our bus ministry first into twoand later into three sections.

◆ We have several buses that bring children to our maindrive-in Sunday school, and they attend the morning serviceonce they are old enough to do so. until that time they attenda children’s church service.

◆ A second group of buses arrive fifteen minutes after ourmorning service has begun. They immediately attend Sundayschool, and then they have their own church services.

◆ A third group of buses arrive in the afternoon; and usingthe same facilities, they have their Sunday school and churchservices.

By doing this we were able to accomplish several things.

1. Use our facilities more efficiently. Instead of using a Sun-day school room once, we now use it three times. Instead ofbuilding more buildings, we use what we have in a better way.

2. Work with smaller groups of children at a given time. Thebus ministry is a kids-intensive ministry. Having their services insections allows us to have a balanced focus. Our first Sundayschool and church service look pretty much like any other fun-damental church services would look with a good mix of children,teenagers and adults. The next two are filled with far more chil-dren. We want to reach these kids, and dividing them intosmaller groups makes it easier to do so.

3. Work with children with similar challenges. Some bus


routes are in areas where the discipline of the children is a greaterproblem. These children have had little to no training at home.They often come from broken homes or where the parents arealcoholics and/or drug users. This creates several issues.

◆ Some kids show no respect to any authority.

◆ Some have to be bribed to do anything at all.

◆ Some can even be destructive in their behavior.

Do we merely throw these kids away, or do we try to reachthem? If the church gives up on them, what hope do they have?The world puts violence in front of them and mind-altering drugsinside them, and they are left with little hope of becoming pro-ductive adults. We must get the Spirit of God in them by intro-ducing them to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must find a way to dothis. We have seen what God can do with these children whenthe church refuses to give up on them. Good things begin to hap-pen, and many graduate into the main church as they grow inthe Lord.

Many years ago when Dr. Hyles first started the Chicago busroutes, his goal was to use these routes as a tool of service for thestudents of Hyles-Anderson College. The original plan for the “B”Sunday School was to have a graded Sunday school programgoing on during the main preaching service and then send theseChicago bus riders to the main auditorium for their own separateservice, their second service.

The story goes that after only one week, Dr. Hyles realizedthis was not such a good idea. First, the workers were trying toget these first-time-church-attending kids into the auditoriumwhile the main service was dismissing The bedlam that ensuedwas a logistical nightmare. Second, some of these kids were fromgangs in the inner city. They did not mix well with the others.Then, too, when church began, it became apparent to Dr. Hylesthat he was not going to have much success preaching to a couplethousand Chicago bus kids in that setting.

Within a week he had entirely reorganized the program intoone that became a model of success. Rather than bringing the buschildren in for one giant service, he had them go to many smallerchurch services near their Sunday school areas. What started out

33Short-Term Challenges Versus Long-Term Results

as a problem became a success story. Thousands of those bus kidsbecame fine Christians and have circled the globe serving the Lord.

4. Expand our outreach and influence for Christ. There areso many places near most of our churches that need to be reachedwith the Gospel, but we limit ourselves because of lack of creativevision. D. L. Moody looked beyond the standard way things weredone and as a result made a profound impact on a wicked city.Many others have done the same thing. The inner cities of thisnation need what we teach and preach. Our country suffersbecause many inner-city people have no real gospel influence.Many churches could do something about such problems if theywould follow these simple ideas.

“But what about workers?” I am often asked. “Who will workwith these kids and give up their Sunday church time?”

I cover in more detail the subject of recruiting and enlistingworkers in several later chapters in this book; however, there area couple of facts I want to share here. The secret to an extendedoutreach is an extended vision. The pastor with a vision will findpeople with a vision. Do not furnish excuses for your people whocould become your workers. Show me a pastor with a vision toreach out to more children, and I will show you a church whereGod brings adults with the passion to reach those kids. Do notthink for your people. God raises up people to go to the hardshipsof third world countries to preach the Gospel. Why would Henot raise up workers to reach the unreached in your area?

We make excuses far too often because we are scared. We seethe challenges and think they are reasons not to do something.Be a man of God who sees the challenges and believes that Goddid not put you in your city to reach the fruit on the bottomlimbs. He expects you to find a ladder tall enough to reach thatwhich seems out of reach. The people will be there when yourvision and commitment are sufficient to cause you to go to them.


8Overcoming Hindrances

to Growth

IT IS EASY to become passive about things over which we feelwe have no control. Churches that are not growing often

became complacent out of frustration more than anything else. Itruly believe that there are many pastors who would like theirchurches to grow but they just don’t know what to do about somechallenges they face. These good men come to me with theirquestions. They say things like:

◆ “We just do not have enough workers to reach everyonewe could in the bus ministry.”

◆ “We have run out of space for growth.”

◆ “I just can’t seem to get the people motivated.”

◆ “The finances are not there to do all I would like to do.”

These are what I call hindrances to growth. We all have themnow or have had them at some time in the past. The strugglingpastor often thinks he is a failure, or perhaps he has the wrongpriorities and as a result gives up on growth. It is not that he isquitting; but if growth is impossible, then changing priorities isthe alternative. Having been a pastor now for over twenty yearsand having counseled with many frustrated pastors, I feel thereare a few things I have learned that may help you to overcomethese hindrances.

First of all, please understand that hindrances are challenges

that are often there to make us stronger. Bodybuilders will tellyou that strength and muscle are developed by resistance. It isthe resistance of the weight against the muscle that is actuallyincreasing one’s strength. The same is true with spiritual strength.There is, however, another strength often forgotten; and that isministerial strength. The more resistance or hindrances I haveendured, the more strength I have built up to overcome andresolve them. Do not resent these hindrances, for they will pre-pare you to overcome even more as your work grows bigger forthe Lord.

The hindrance or challenge most often brought up by pastorsis that of not having enough workers. You are going to find thatI deal with this subject often because it is so prevalent. Space isanother one that many pastors mention. Pastor, it may come asa surprise to you that Jesus was faced with the exact same chal-lenges as we are.

“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching intheir synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, andhealing every sickness and every disease among the people.

“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compas-sion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, assheep having no shepherd.

“Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plen-teous, but the labourers are few;

“Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will sendforth labourers into his harvest.”—Matt. 9:35–38.

It is quite obvious in this passage that Jesus did not haveenough workers for the harvest. He was working hard. He wasdoing His best, yet here we see His “frustration” at the fact thatthere were not enough volunteers to do the work. Is that not abit encouraging in and of itself? Jesus had our problem. Thatshould not surprise us because, after all, He was tempted in everyway we are. The difference was in His response to the problem.

We have the same problems today. We do not have as manyworkers as we need. Some of us do not have enough room or park-ing, and some do not have enough leaders. We have most of theseproblems much of the time at Clays Mill Road Baptist Church,


but we see them as good problems. I would rather have the needthan become stagnant. We have many workers, but we do not haveanywhere near enough to reach our entire city and area for Christ.How do we deal with this? What are we going to do?

1. If you do not have this problem, your vision is too small.I have to begin here. I have never met a pastor who loved the lostand had a passion for his city who was not a bit frustrated. Hin-drances are not hindrances to the one with a vision. They arechallenges to find a way to do more. Not having enough spacefor the crowd surely beats not having enough crowd for the space.

2. Be innovative. Space is a problem for many growingchurches. The temptation is to do away with smaller classroomsand have one giant assembly. While this may at times be the onlysolution, it is by no means the best one. Try to use some innova-tive ideas.

◆ Have table classes in a gymnasium or bigger assemblyroom. A restaurant has many tables where small groups areeating. There are many conversations taking place at the sametime, yet it works because all in the same conversation aregathered around the same table. It works in Sunday school aswell. We currently have twelve Sunday school classes thatmeet in our gymnasium.

◆ Buy or make folding partitions to divide up classes.

◆ use buses for classrooms. While this may not be the bestsituation, it is better than not reaching children at all.

◆ use offices for classrooms. High school classes meetmore successfully in offices than do younger children’s classes.If possible, it may be best if the teacher of the class is the per-son to whom the office belongs. It can be prepared andarranged according to his likes. This is better than allowingsomeone else to move or mess up things that do not belongto him.

◆ Have classes on stairways, in the baptism dressing areas,or anywhere you can find a space big enough to conduct a classof ten or so children. Make an adventure out of it. Kids willlove it.

◆ Have a chair shortage? No problem. use rugs and sit on

37Overcoming Hindrances to Growth

the floor. You can actually fit more kids into a smaller spacethat way.

3. Alternate the times your buses arrive for Sunday schooland church. Currently we have groups arriving at five differenttimes so that we can use the same classrooms multiple times in aday. Sunday morning we have the drive-in Sunday school at10:00 and church at 11:00. When our church service begins,another set of buses arrive and use the same rooms that were usedin the previous hour. The Spanish arrive at another scheduledtime and once again use the same facilities. We have another setof bus routes that leave the church at 1:30 to pick up children.They use the buildings from 3:00 until 5:00 in the afternoon.

At present we have seating in our church auditorium for about700. By using this rotating schedule, we are capable of reachingan attendance of up to 2,000. All of this takes work and planning,but we must be innovative and positive in our schedules and pro-grams if we want to reach the harvest before us.

4. On a consistent basis, pray and preach for more work-ers. Notice what Jesus did. He not only prayed about it, but Hemade certain His disciples were aware of the need and admon-ished them to pray concerning it. Certainly we must be patient,using the workers God has given us at the time. This is what Jesusdid. At the same time He told His disciples to pray for morelaborers. We must do the same thing while still being thankfuland excited about those who are already serving with us. Wemust stay positive and encouraging to the people who are alreadyfaithful in their places of service.

Note: It is important to have the right workers in theright areas. I fear that we often use unqualified workers tostart programs. They not only fail to accomplish the workbut also create problems which altogether prevent busroutes, classes or a ministry from succeeding. It is impera-tive that we use qualified people and train those people ona regular basis for their part in the ministry.

More is said about this matter of recruiting and enlistingworkers in several other chapters.

5. Have “brainstorming” meetings to discuss growing pains.Meet with your workers and seek their ideas on how to accom-


modate more people. You may be surprised at their ideas, butyou will also make them more aware of the need to keep findingways to grow and reach more people.

6. Stay positive and believe that you can grow. Do notmake or accept excuses for not growing. You can grow! Being pos-itive and excited is a decision you as a leader must make. Do notallow negative people to affect your thinking. A negative attitudemakes it impossible to think of new ideas to solve challenges.

7. New converts are eager to be trained to serve. I lovenew Christians. Often they are the best source for new workersbecause they just want to do anything they can to serve the Lord.Have a special meeting and invite people to come who would liketo get involved in a ministry of the church. Make certain newconverts know they are especially welcome. Prepare a list of spe-cific areas of need. Ask them to check the ones they feel mayinterest them. Contact them personally and begin the process ofenlisting and equipping them.

8. Keep well organized that which you have. Frustrationoften leads to letting down the standard. Don’t get stagnant, nomatter how difficult your situation may seem. Stay on top ofthings now as you prepare for future growth.

I have dealt primarily with space challenges. Throughout thisbook I will address other hindrances and challenges in moredetail. Make a decision that you will be a ministry overcomer andnot a victim of your circumstances.

39Overcoming Hindrances to Growth

The People of the Bus Ministry

II

The Workers on a Bus Route

HAVING THE right workers on a bus route is such an impor-tant aspect of having a good bus ministry. In the years

working on and with bus routes, I have come to appreciate therole of every worker. A bus route cannot function without thesevolunteers who give of themselves to help reach children andtheir families for Christ. Here are a few thoughts about theseworkers.

◆ They should be qualified for their jobs.

◆ They should have defined duties.

◆ They should be properly trained to fulfill those duties.

◆ They should be allowed to do their jobs.

◆ They should be good team players.

◆ They should know their importance and your apprecia-tion for them.

A good bus route is a well-oiled machine where everyone andeverything work smoothly and in harmony. It is a team whereeveryone knows what he is supposed to be doing and what theother workers are doing. They pull together and make each Sun-day a success in every way. Allow me briefly to describe the dif-ferent jobs on a bus route.

1. The captain. Everything rises and falls on leadership in anyorganization, and it is true with a bus route. The bus captain is

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the general, the pastor, the leader, and the one responsible formaking certain the bus route is run properly. He must knoweverything that is going on and make certain that everything isrunning smoothly. A good captain is good at many things includ-ing delegating responsibility to other workers. If the captain doesthis, he will be free to do whatever else needs to be done.

2. The driver. That is what he does: he drives the bus. Healso is in charge of making certain all laws are obeyed and thatevery safety precaution is taken. He is the captain of the ship andstays with the bus at all times. More is covered in detail on thisvital position in another chapter.

3. The secretary. This person should keep all the records,including registration forms with accurate information abouteach child, along with signatures from his parent(s). Keeping anattendance log is also an important duty of the bus secretary.

4. The runner. This person runs to the door to let them knowthe bus is there and accompanies the riders to the bus. Once onthe bus the runner can also be in charge of making certain theirhands are stamped. Then on the bus ride home, the runnerescorts the riders to their front doors, making certain they areproperly inside with their parents.

5. The program/song leader. This could be more than oneperson because you may assign different parts of the program todifferent workers. It is a good idea to have one person who is incharge of the bus program to make certain it keeps flowing alongwith no gaps. Nothing will hurt more than a busload of kids nothaving fun. The program leaders keep things moving on the bus.

6. The helpers. These unsung heroes are vitally important onthe bus route. They do a little bit of everything.

• Befriend riders

• Participate enthusiastically in the program

• Encourage riders

• Keep riders under control

• Help with discipline

• Break up spats among riders (that sometimes happen)


• Keep the bus clean

• Keep windows up

• Help keep everyone safe

• Give out prizes and promotional treats

• Clean up messes

• Escort kids to Sunday school classes

• Pick up younger kids at Junior church

• Anything else the bus captain needs done

Do not assume anything or take anything for granted. It is inthe tiniest details that victories are won or, sadly, where we loseor have tragedy. Each worker has a job to do; and if everyonedoes his job with the right attitude and with the Spirit of God inhis life, the blessings of God will flow.

45The Workers on a Bus Route

Documents

What’s in It for Me? The Church Members and the Bus … to help and be a blessing. With that in mind, let me give you some things you can do to be a blessing to the bus ministry